I don't have the energy to talk about all of this goodness that is coming upon San Diego bands except that Italian Japanese is up for Freshman of the week on MTVu and Lesands is up for band of the month on The Deli, a popular LA music blog. Please take 2 seconds to vote for our locals.

So I tweeted a week ago that Conor Oberst would be at that Casbah with the Felice Brothers and perhaps you didn't pay attention or maybe you didn't believe me, but either way, when we were able to officially announce it, the show sold out. I diligently stood up front to hold my ground and locked in my position. I seriously couldn't have had a better night. I caught the whole set on video, and througout the course of the night I made plans to follow the tour to Pappy & Harriet's, I got my drink on, and I got a birthday slow dance and a sloppy wet kiss from Mr. Oberst. All in a night's work, I guess, and if that's work, then consider me happily employed.

I put all of the videos in a playlist, so click the arrows to see them all. And super special thanks to everyone who made my night so magical...Pyles, Mr. Mazee, Andrew, Ben, Paz, Emily, Blayn, Kera, Michael, Doom, Malinda, Mookie and everyone else. Thank you all. You all make getting old really fun.

Monday, September 27, 2010

This morning I finally got confirmation that Conor Oberst will, in fact, be performing tonight at the Casbah with the Felice Brothers. Conor has four scheduled dates in California, so apparently tonight will be the warm-up show at the Casbah.

I don't know if he'll be playing a full set, or if he'll be opening or closing the show, but for a $14 show, I'd say it's gonna be pretty special regardless. Conor was last in San Diego for the Monsters of Folk tour. This photo is of the back of his head as I stood behind him at Coachella 2009 after he performed...I think he was as enthralled with Leonard Cohen as anyone in the crowd that night.

At this moment, tickets are still available to the show, but as it's been tweeted by @CasbahSanDiego, @FM949sd, etc., I wouldn't wait if you're considering attending. I do not have a guest list, so don't ask, though my birthday is at midnight so I'll be doing some celebrating if you wanna buy me a drink :)

(Update: It is my understanding that Conor will be playing a full set with the Felice Brothers as his backing band.)

A few people have asked me why the Justin Townes Earle show was canceled at the Casbah and so I thought I'd share the information that I was given. Below is the press release from his publicist, Sacks & Co.

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE SUSPENDS TOUR DATES, ENTERS REHABWITH NEW CRITICALLYACCLAIMED ALBUM OUT, EARLE LOOKS FORWARD TO GETTING BACK TO WORK

Justin Townes Earle has decided to suspend the remaining dates on his tour and enter a rehabilitation facility. Earle is strongly committed to confronting his on-going struggle with addiction and thanks his family, friends and fans for theircontinued support through this difficult time.

In regards to the misdemeanor charges recently filed in Indianapolis, Earle released the following statement earlier this week: “Unfortunately, reports surfacing online about the incident in Indianapolis are not accurate. I have been advised by counsel that I should not comment on a pending criminal matter, but suffice to say that I am looking forward to having my day in court. I would also like to say that I oppose violence against women in any form.”

Earle looks forward to resuming the tour in support of his critically acclaimed third album, Harlem River Blues, on independent record label Bloodshot Records. The album enters this week at #47 on the Top 200 in overall Soundscan.

Naturally, after reading the release, I was curious and had to find out more information about the incident leading to his arrest. I spent a couple hours reading articles, reviews, blog posts, facebook comments, and tweets, and was fascinated by all sides of the story. You can read what went down via Pollstar and My Kentucky Blog (I recommend reading through all of the comments, too.)

Obviously without being there, I can't speak to this incident, however I have some things to say about it. First, nothing justifies hitting a woman, so if that happened it should be dealt with appropriately, obviously. Reading about this incident made me think back to when Evan Dando choked me nearly 15 years ago. Because of mutual friends at Taang!, we've hung out a few times since then. I've seen him in amazing form and I've seen him drugged out beyond all recognition and it's terrible seeing an idol fall. The last time I saw Evan, I was sure he'd be dead within a year. Apparently JTE has a history of alcohol abuse and I hope that he is successful in his rehab because his music is amazing and it would be tragic if he can't overcome his issues.

Second, the crowd sounds like a bunch of dicks. Nothing makes me more crazy than the one or two or five people at a show that have to open their mouths. A concert is not a time to have a dialogue with a band; I even find song requests annoying unless they're solicited from the artist. And for the moron who yelled "Freebird", as some piece of shit usually does at every show, someone should've punched you in the nuts. I've been to some amazing shows, especially lately, and this attitude that "I paid for the ticket" somehow justifies acting like an asshole is beyond me. I love for people to support live music, but if you're that Freebird prick, or the guy who tries to make everyone else around him dance, or the high-fiving beer-cheersing fist-pumper who thinks the show is all about your enjoyment at the expense of the people around you, do us all a favor and stay home.

I hope that Justin Townes Earle gets the help he needs and can get back on the road soon. The Casbah has been assured that after rehab, the full tour will be rescheduled, so it's just a matter of time and healing, and I imagine the legal issues need to be dealt with as well. In the meantime, tickets will be refunded directly to the credit card accounts from which they were purchased.

September is always a crazy month for me, and this year has been no exception, and while I know some people feel that summer skipped San Diego this year and are happy with the heat wave, I absolutely hate it and it resulted in me skipping the Adams Avenue Street Fair on Sunday...and I so wanted to see Mariachi El Bronx. It's all good though because this week is going to be pretty nuts. My birthday is on Tuesday, but I'll be doing it up nightly so come have a drink with me. On Monday night I'll be at the Casbah for the Felice Brothers and the not-so-secret rumored appearance of Conor Oberst that Pyles and I have been tweeting about. On Tuesday I'm getting a massage and will probably head to Starlite for the Three Mile Pilot CD listening party and I might head up to The Loft. Funny, my birthday is the one thing I'm not sure about...Wednesday I'll likely hit Commune Wednesday at the Whistle Stop, and on Thursday I'll of course be at West Coast Tavern followed by FLUXX. You can always keep up with me by following my tweets @sddialedin.

[note: My friend Joel Williams of d/wolves told me he was thinking about starting a blog of his own. When I told him he could write about music here if he wanted, he decided to give it a go. Joel's only 18, and I love his enthusiasm and his music, and I hope my readers enjoy his fresh perspective and voice. I mean, if it wasn't for Joel, I would've never seen this amazing gem. ]

Earlier this year, a band I'm in called D/Wolves played a show with Da Bears at the Tin Can Alehouse. We didn't know these fools at all at that point. A day later we had an email from Grizzly Records asking us to do a joint tour with Da Bears. A couple months after that we were on tour with a bunch of older dudes we didn't know. Long story short, I became pretty connected to their music, maybe because it reminds me of driving to a new place every day and playing for new faces, or maybe because I started to think of them as good friends.Sadly Da Bears broke up a couple days after we got back, but they all still play music, and even with no memories to tag along with the new audio, I enjoy what they're doing.

Ryan Solomon currently has two groups- Nature's Kid and a project called DUDES.In Da Bears Ryan sang and played guitar. In Nature's Kid he's doing neither. Its Ryan and his desktop computer chopping up samples of his favorite artists so they almost sound like a CD skipping, but he ties it all together by mashing the samples together to make a solid jamming song drenched in psychedelic phasers and delays. The music is repetitive, head fucking, spaced out greatness. Nature's Kid has a show coming up October 2nd at the Che Cafe and you can download a whole Nature's Kid album from bandcamp.

Ryan's other project is called DUDES. The concept behind this one is pretty rad. He writes these stoney songs with guitar and drum loops, and then he samples Youtube videos over them. Even cooler is he wants to release all the songs on youtube with videos for each song. No mp3s to download for free at this point, but DUDES should be putting an EP out sometime soon. I like when music confuses me and the first time I heard this song the vocals really confused me. For the first couple syllables I thought maybe he pitch shifted his voice to make it squeaky but its all natural besides some added reverb. Ryan's just not afraid to full out moan into a mic I guess... beautiful.

Last but not least is a band called TV Girl. Trung Ngo played guitar and keyboard for Da Bears. Now he and bandmate Brad Petering are singing over some bumping beats and samples. This is just straight up fun. When I hear it so many things come to mind. The drums are deep and grooving, the instrumentation is smooth and made up of sampled guitars, brass, percussion, etc.. Trung's voice is mellow and modest, he's not trying to impress, he's trying to relate to the listener, which is so much more important than any amount of technical ability. Don't get me wrong though, he's actually quite the singer, he's just not trying to make you feel like you suck at singing yourself. Brad's voice is an interesting partner to Trung's, low and very rhythmic. I also really enjoy these songs lyrically. Lines like "You only want it when you're drunk" or "Give me some advice and I'll tell you where to stick it" are bratty but they make me feel great, like something you wish you would have said to a person that just really pisses you off. I've talked to Trung about live shows, but at this point they're still trying to figure out how to perform the new material live. Here's Trung singing "If You Want It" and here's Brad singing "I Don't Care". If you're wondering where the sample in "If You Want It" is from, it's from my good friend Todd Rundgren.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Washington DC born and Philadelphia based indie band Jukebox The Ghost is touring in support of their recently released sophomore effort Everything Under The Sun. Led by keybordist and vocalist Ben Thornewill, the three piece seems to have their formula well in hand, which is consumer friendly indie pop songs which work well in the live setting. Constant touring over the last four years with only taking time off to record has worked well for the band. Playing on The Late Show With David Letterman earlier this month was just the boost the band needed. It will be fun to see the students (and non-students) interchange with the band this Tuesday @ The Loft on the UCSD campus. A note to those who have not ventured to this venue: the lighting and sound are excellent while maintaining an intimate feel with beer, wine and food available. Watching a band gain the audience it deserves is what the music industry is all about. Enjoying the music without having to overthink is the perfect way to watch a live show. A great way to start the week ahead.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

aargh. I really wanted to write a full post preview of the awesome festivals this weekend. I was supposed to tell you how Facial Hair Expert Wahl is bringing its Let it Grow Tour and mobile barbershop to the Adams Avenue Street Fair. For every guy who comes out to get a free trim (and advice), Wahl will donate a buck to Movember – a 30-day mustache-growing fest that raises money for cancer research. And I was also supposed to tell you about Astra Kelly's benefit for Becky's House tonight at Queen Bee's. But I've been offline living the life so you'll just have to take the listings and figure it all out. I should already be at the Adams Avenue Street Fair, but after my sunburn from last weekend, I'm trying to dodge the sun for a bit. I'll be there in a while.

Thanks to everyone who checked out Meg & Bryan last night at West Coast Tavern. I wasn't there because I was selling merch for Dungen at the Casbah (and developing a crush on the tour manager), but I heard it was a great night. Sadly I've been up all night to get these posted so hopefully I covered everything. If I didn't, please let me know via comments, e-mail, or twitter.

The other day I stopped in to Analog Bar and caught up with my old friend Aaron Thompson, who you might have seen in Pacific Magazine. Aaron ("A-Fresh") used to front The Stranger's Six and has been working on a new solo record for a while, but he shared with me that his friends in Fenix TX asked him to join them for a European tour. Apparently the band's bassist can't make the tour for whatever reason, so Aaron will be filling in with the pop-punk band. The tour is selling out all over Europe and Aaron has promised that he'll update us with photos and road stories.

Fenix TX came together on the north side of Houston, TX in the balmy southern autumn of 1995. Originally known as Riverfenix, the band moved their operation to sunny San Diego, CA in late 1999 and after a string of successful DIY tours the band released its first full-length album on Drive Thru Records. Riverfenix merged their association with the indie label together with MCA Records, after the album's first single “Speechless” hit full rotation on LA’s legendary rock station KROQ. The band remixed and rereleased their self-titled album with two new tracks produced by Ryan Greene (Megadeth, NOFX.) With a new album came a new name. Looking to leave behind the drug-free image of their former namesake, and also to avoid a lawsuit from the estate of the late River Phoenix, the band dropped the River and added the TX to become Fenix TX, paying homage to the state that spawned them. Fenix TX continued to tour extensively and 4 years later with a new line up, the band went back into the studio with producer Jerry Finn to work on their sophomore album “Lechuza.” Featuring singles “Threesome,” “Phoebe Cates” and “A Song For Everyone” the album showed the bands versatility and evolution towards a bigger and better sound. After a few more years of touring the world the band decided to call it quits while in the studio writing their next record. The band went their separate ways in 2003 citing creative differences as the reason for the breakup. Fenix TX reunited in 2005 to record the live album “Purple Reign In Blood.” They continued to tour with a better outlook towards the future. Since then the band has been busy in the studio and with individual side projects, but with the 10-year anniversary of their sophomore release ‘Lechuza’ in 2010, the band is commemorating by touring the world once again starting it all off in Europe!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

It's probably pretty obvious that I'm not much of a shopper. My wardrobe consists mostly of band t-shirts, jeans, and hoodies, and I haven't been shopping in a mall in San Diego in probably five years, but for the fashionistas out there who pay a bit more attention to their appearance, Thread Shows are a great place to find unique apparel and goods. And for those not so interested in shopping, they've added NOSH to their show, which will offer small plate offerings from local eateries for $1-$3.

The Thread Show takes place on Sunday, September 26 at the Horton Plaza event space at 4th & Broadway from 11am-6pm. The cost is $10, or $5 if you RSVP, but I've got THREE pairs of tickets to giveaway. Just send me a tweet "@SDdialedin I wanna go to @ThreadShows on Sunday!" and I'll pick three winners before Friday. Click the flyer for more info, or click 'keep on reading' at the bottom of the post for the full press release.

THREAD Show Brings Indie Fashion, Art, Music and Food to San Diego this FallTHREAD Show presents NOSH at THREAD Show, a new concept incorporating food tastings from San Diego restaurants, in its September 2010 show

San Diego, THREAD Show is proud to introduce NOSH to the September 2010 show. NOSH is an event concept featuring local restaurants selling sample-sized portions for $1 - $3, as well as small plates. THREAD will still feature the independent designers, shopping, art, house wares, fashion shows, live DJs and all-day giveaways the show is known for but NOSH will feature an additional 15,000 square feet of great food, all-day DJ entertainment and free restaurant giveaways, all included in the entrance fee to THREAD Show.

“San Diego is one of our most popular markets for THREAD Show and the perfect place to introduce this new concept,” said THREAD Show spokesperson, Danielle Gano. “Sustainable fashion and the slow, local food movement go hand-in-hand and we’re excited to bring San Diego its first pop-up local shopping mall, complete with a food court!”

Although NOSH is a new concept for THREAD, supporting local business is not. Every THREAD Show hosts independent designers, artists, musicians and now restaurants to display and sell their wares to attendees. This event allows people to shop and purchase clothes, art, house wares, and eco-friendly designs, listen to live bands and DJs, watch fashion shows, receive complimentary styling in the THREAD Style Lounge, recycle their old clothes and sip, eat and mingle to their heart’s content. Attendees can expect high-quality and high-creativity designs in a more comfortable, energized and interactive shopping environment than conventional retail spaces offer. What truly differentiates THREAD designers from their mass-produced competitors is their commitment to the traditional beauty and art of design, with passion and quality that is second to none.

By allowing shoppers to skip the third-party retailer, THREAD gives trend-setters an opportunity to meet the designers face-to-face, feed the local economy, be kind to the environment and ensure products are locally-made and ethically produced. This one-on-one connection also allows designers to get direct feedback from their consumers.

THREAD Show has also introduced a new, lower ticket price this year. Admission is $10 in all cities – or $5 if you RSVP on the THREAD website. The September 26 event will be held at the Horton Plaza Event Space from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. For regular updates, to visit the THREAD blog, RSVP to a show or subscribe to the email newsletter, please visit www.threadshow.com.

About THREAD Show // Good Style. Good Value. Good Karma.THREAD Show is a travelling juried showcase of the best independent fashion and home designers on the West Coast, and the music and art that rock their world. This dynamic one-day retail environment has showcased more than 7,000 emerging designers since its inception in 2003. THREAD allows consumers a unique opportunity to support their local economy, reduce their carbon footprint and discover emerging designers while scoring deals and purchasing one-of-a-kind wares in a fun and unique setting. For more information, visit www.threadshow.com.

I'm buzzing on coffee and all of the exciting things coming up in the next couple of weeks, including my birthday on Tuesday and a whole slew of ways to come party with me to celebrate my shrivelling ovaries. I hope to get the weekend listings done tomorrow, but until I do, keep in mind that the Adams Avenue Street Fair is this weekend, as well as a Thread show on Sunday (stay tuned for a ticket giveaway).

Over the weekend, I had three people tell me they missed me actually writing. I tweet and update all the time, and I do little headers here and there, but I've maybe gotten more self-conscious about bleeding my whole life on the internet. But today I feel like writing. Some psychotic person is harassing my family and friends on Facebook and some other looney is harassing my friends while some troll feels the need to berate me on Twitter, I guess mostly reminding me that I live out loud and gushing about my life is what I do. To read all about it, click 'keep on reading' at the end of this post.

So I'll say it was a brilliant weekend for me. And by "weekend", I'll start with Thursday. After I went to the zoo for the Galapagos Turtle event, I headed to the Hard Rock Hotel for the San Diego Music & Technology Conference. I mostly sat in the back as I listened with one ear as I tried to get some work done on my laptop, but I found the panels to be interesting and informative. Electronic music and the culture are things I try to understand, because even as the panelists agree, watching someone turn knobs or push buttons is insanely boring, but the discussions about new technology and instruments and the innovation around that world were incredibly fascinating and I was happy to be there. I even won a prize from SoundCloud that I gave to Josh, but apparently it would serve me better as a blogger than he as a musician, so we'll see what it entails and I might look into using it here.

After SDMT&C, I headed up to the San Diego Woman's Club. I was selling merch for Mason Jennings and I got there an hour before I had to be there, but was able to catch Mason soundchecking on the grand piano, which was pretty amazing considering there were only 3 other people in the room. By the time we opened up, Mason played for about 90 minutes, after which he stayed until the very last person got a photo and autograph. I was joking all night that Mason Jennings deserves his own chapter in Stuff White People Like which is not a criticism, but there was a very specific demographic at the show. Coming from an advertising background this fascinates me; it's something I pay attention to regularly.

After the show and the final autographs, I made my way to West Coast Tavern, where Brett from Emersen had finished his set and Republic of Letters were setting up. They played a stripped down set without Nick on drums, and though I love their full sound with the whole band, it was great hearing this iteration of the band as well. After the set we stuck around a while before calling it a night.

On Friday morning it was back to the Hard Rock Hotel for the San Diego Music & Technology conference. They had a great social media panel that went above and beyond the usual obvious twitter and facebook information, and some rad panels on lighting, sound design, and Moldover was just fascinating discussing his homemade instruments. I had to leave before closing remarks to get to the post office before closing, but decided to wander over to Analog for happy hour. Aaron Thompson was there and he shared that he's been asked to play bass on a European tour with Fenix TX, so stay tuned for some guest blog posts as he shares his stories and adventures from the road.

After some tasty food, I went to the Casbah where I was able to see Menomena soundcheck. The show was sold out and all of the bands were fantastic, but I felt a bit claustrophobic and left during Menomena to catch Judgement Day at the Soda Bar. They totally kicked ass per usual. Afterward me and the band headed to Malinda & Jake's where they were staying and hung out for a couple hours until I called one of my favorite cabs and called it a night.

On Saturday I sold merch for the early show at the Casbah with Southern Culture on The Skids. I always forget how great this band is live and they're an absolute pleasure to work for, with all of their merch organized and they have a great wireless credit card machine which allowed for a successful day of sales, even though they were running low on merch at the end of their tour. After the show, I stuck around for some Booty Bassment before heading up the hill to the final House Party Girls party. Apparently cops had already broken up the bands, but the party was in full swing when I arrived so I stayed until the last shot of tequila was consumed before heading home (with wet feet after stepping into a small pond in the backyard). Good luck to Heather and Amanda as they jetset around the world for some awesome travel through Mexico, Thailand and Europe. We'll be here ready to party when you come back to visit.

Finally Sunday was the KPRI harbor cruise on the Hornblower with Dawes. I don't think I've ever watched videos so much in my life...these guys were so great and though in my mind I imagined big burly bearded Portland-ish duded, they're LA boys and adorable as all hell. I look forward to their full band set in November at the Casbah.

From the cruise terminal we crossed downtown to hit up Artwalk By The Bay and to see The Heavy Guilt play. If you haven't seen them perform, they're playing at the Adams Avenue Street Fair this weekend and I suggest you catch them.

After heading home and taking a nap (and realizing that my face was tragically sunburnt, complete with sunglass marks like a raccoon), it was up to the Belly Up for Local Natives. I love those kids and it was an awesome show.

Needless to say, I was completely worthless on Monday, though I went back to the Belly Up for an amazing show with Calexico and a fantastic opening band called Sergio Mendoza y La Orkesta from Tucson. Go see them when you can. I hope to get some videos up soon, but with nearly a dozen people on stage, they don't quite capture the awesome.

Last night I went to SDSU to see Phoenix and Neon Indian, and I'll post those pics soonish, too. The craziness never stops, as tonight I'll be checking out the Gaglione Brothers media party, a Pyles session with In Transit Audio, and The Jim Jones Revue at the Casbah. Tomorrow night while I urge you to go check out Meg & Bryan over at West Coast Tavern for a free show, I'll be selling merch for Dungen at the Casbah, and though I haven't completely mapped out the weekend, I know I'll be at the Adams Avenue Street Fair, at the Beauty Bar on Sunday night for their closing party (and one of a few of my birthday celebrations). Monday I'll be at the Felice Brothers who are awesome on their own, but even better knowing that there's a possibility that Conor Oberst will be there...can't ring in my midnight birthday a better way! There's a lot of other birthday celebrating happening for me next week, but make sure you RSVP for the SoundDiego Live event at West Coast Tavern next Thursday with my boys d/wolves as well as an hour of hosted Karl Strauss beer and apps. That should make for a great pre-party before heading to FLUXX for another FLUXX live show with Transfer, The Silent Comedy, Jared Mees and the Grown Children, and Little Hurricane.

I'm trying to recap my whole weekend but that's slow coming, so instead, I'll just post my videos from the sold-out Sunday night show with Local Natives. I've loved the band for a long time and have seen every San Diego show they've played, and even went up to LA for one. You may or may not know that I tried to book them at last year's North Park Music Thing, but they had a scheduling conflict, and frankly I knew back then that they were too good for the Radio Room where they had been scheduled to play. It's great to see that good people who make great music succeed, and the band has been all over the world touring with awesome bands and playing the largest festivals in the world. And it's also nice that they come back and play a 600-700 capacity venue like the Belly Up as well as a free show earlier in the day at dog beach. I was still on my harbor cruise with Dawes, so I missed it, but I heard it was a lot of fun and very well attended.

So anyway, the show was awesome, minus the douchebags to my right. I'm all for people enjoying the show, but your fun shouldn't ruin anyone else's fun, and when you're jumping up and down with a full beer and spill it on a photographer, you deserve to get your ass kicked and you don't deserve to be at the show. There are shows where that is the norm and to be expected, like say The Bronx or Pennywise or a gazillion other bands. Local Natives are not that band, and when the singer calls out the crowd for being "the rowdiest Sunday night crowd (they've) ever had" he wasn't complimenting you, which is why he followed with, "and that you're proud of it?!"

So the band played a great set per usual and the crowd sang along per usual and naturally I can't wait to see them all again. Below is the playlist of all the video I took. You can click the left and right arrows on the side to scroll through.

Monday, September 20, 2010

On Sunday morning I was scooped up and headed down to the cruise terminal to catch another KPRI Hornblower cruise, this time with the band Dawes out of Los Angeles. Most of the cruises happen at sunset, so I knew that a free Sunday cruise (while the local Chargers game was blacked out) would be crowded. Fortunately photographer Steve saved me a seat so that I could shoot the show. Wylie, the bassist was unable to attend because he had to fly to New York for his grandfather's funeral, so Taylor played guitar with the rest of the band (brother Griffin and bandmate Alex) helping out with harmonies. It was an amazing set (despite my sunburnt face) and though it was unfortunate that Wylie couldn't be there, we got an incredible performance. Taylor's guitar wasn't even plugged into an amp, just had a single mic on it. He tried out a couple new songs on the crowd, too. The band will be ending their full fall tour at the Casbah on November 27 and I highly recommend getting your tickets for the show. Be sure to check out their site for lots of great videos, an awesome performance on Yours Truly, as well as their most recent Daytrotter session.These were a few of my favorites of the day:

Here's the full playlist from the day. Click the right or left arrows to navigate through them.

My beer blogger extraordinaire, Jonathan, has been in Denver all week for the Great American Beer Festival. Judging by his tweets, it was a helluva a week for a beer geek so I'm sure his recap will take some time. In the meantime, I thought I'd post the winners since San Diego walked away with several medals. Most of those were by Pizza Port, but Ballast Point, Karl Strauss, Lost Abbey, and Stone all got some honors as well. To see the full list, click here. Below are some of the San Diego area winners...I included the Pizza Port San Clemente wins because a win for any Pizza Port is good for all of us, as well as a Black Market win (from Temecula).

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year: Pizza Port CarlsbadSmall Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year: Pizza Port San Clemente

It has been increasingly common for indie band members to play in more than one project at the same time. There are several reasons for this: economic necessity, creative differences, filling the calendar to name a few. Case in point...Frankie Rose and The Outs, a Brooklyn based all female band fronted by the seemingly controversial Frankie Rose (hence the name). Her resume includes drumming for high profile New York indie bands Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts. Rose's most recent affiliation was with LA buzz band Dum Dum Girls. Going from garage to lo fi to a more pop oriented song structure brings the listener up to date. The eponymous debut full length doesn't totally abandon Rose's musical past, but gives her creative control in the finished project. Moving from one band to another has been good and bad for Frankie. Currently living on the east coast (California born and raised) has afforded Rose many opportunities in the busy NY indie scene. It is also interesting to get one's perspective on all female bands. Rather than enter that discussion, I would rather focus on the music, and this band is definitely worth a listen. The opportunity to watch the band perform is this Friday at the very intimate Tin Can in Banker's Hill. A good way to usher in the weekend.

Friday, September 17, 2010

The San Diego Zoo is constantly evolving and growing. Within the confines of Balboa Park, I'm constantly amazed by the new ways that the San Diego Zoo can use their existing land to create new enclosures and natural feeling habitats for their animals. They redefined the Polar Bear Plunge, created Elephant Odyssey, and this month is ReptileMania and they opened a new habitat for the oldest residents of the Zoo, the Galapagos Tortoise. They have animals that are 150 years old and it's about time they get their due.

Yesterday I had the oppportunity to check out the exhibit, and with my mom, sister, nieces and two of my mom's daycare kids, got to enjoy a morning at the zoo. The enclosure itself is spacious and gives a good focus on some sun-basking iguanas, small reptile houses, and of course, the lovely Galapagos Tortoise. (For all of the photos, click 'keep on reading'.

(no live tortoises were injured in the taking of this photo)

The "ribbon cutting" involved a giant tortoise biting through a carrot, seen here with the benefactors of the enclosure.

There's a ReptileMania show, too, where the trainers bring out a ton of rattlesnakes and this hostile snapping turtle.

My niece Nadia at her favorite time of day...lunch. A view of the Balboa Park bell tower from the Skyfari.

The weekend is finally here! This is a big weekend for double-dipping and triple-dipping because there are a ton of worthy shows. If you're not already, you'll wanna be sure you're following @FM949sd on Twitter as it appears they're gonna have a daytime pop-up show with Local Natives on Sunday.

I feel like I've been hoarding some new music and if I keep waiting to get through all of my e-mail, I'll never be finished, so for now, here are some free downloads for bands with upcoming shows. Some of them are coming to San Diego, some have their closest shows in LA, but either way, keep them on your radar and download away, little puppies!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

I'm really glad I got to doing the weekend listings early because there are a lot of news. The Stone Temple Pilots show at Viejas has been postponed to October 26. I'm trying to confirm whether or not BRMC will still open for that date. Additionally it should be noted that tonight's Mason Jennings show is "An Evening With Mason Jennings". That means there is NO OPENER which means if you get there late, you'll miss the show. Doors are at 7 pm and I imagine Mason will be onstage no later than 7:30 pm. Also, Switch has canceled at Voyeur tonight, citing personal family reasons. Lastly, the Kele (of Bloc Party) show at 4th & B that was supposed to happen on Sunday has been canceled. Refunds are available at point of purchase.

There are a gazillion DJ events in San Diego this weekend and I've posted many of them, but I never intended this site to cover anything but live music, so I'm sorry if the listings don't have your favorite oontz-oontz club listed. Full Friday-Sunday listings are after the jump. If I missed anything (and I'm certainly sure that I have), please leave a comment or shoot me an email and I will update.